Farewell and Thank You Goo.gl

Aw, Snap! Google will be discontinuing its own URL Shortener, Goo.gl,  after March 30, 2019.

I know it's a bit late. But it is only now that I found out. I was able to create a blog post and wanting to shorten its URL.

See the complete announcement here.

Farewell and Thank you Goo.gl.

Image credit: Here

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European Union & Google's Directive Regarding Cookies

I finally have thought of something to share in this blog. But first things first, I have to comply with this message that greeted me when I opened my Blogger account.

Here's the official notification:

European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent.

As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies.

You are responsible for confirming this notice actually works for your blog, and that it displays. If you employ other cookies, for example by adding third party features, this notice may not work for you. Learn more about this notice and your responsibilities.

So, I have updated this blog's privacy policy.

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TOPEKA - Google's name for Today

Lincoln Boss

I was mildly surprised when I opened Google's homepage today. Instead of the customary Google, it was replaced by the letters TOPEKA. Knowing it is April 1 or April Fools Day, I knew right away it was some sort of a joke. However, it made me curious about what is Topeka.

From the Google Blog, it says

"Early last month the mayor of Topeka, Kansas stunned the world by announcing that his city was changing its name to Google. We’ve been wondering ever since how best to honor that moving gesture. Today we are pleased to announce that as of 1AM (Central Daylight Time) April 1st, Google has officially changed our name to Topeka.

We didn’t reach this decision lightly; after all, we had a fair amount of brand equity tied up in our old name. But the more we surfed around (the former) Topeka’s municipal website, the more kinship we felt with this fine city at the edge of the Great Plains.

In fact, Topeka Google Mayor Bill Bunten expressed it best: “Don’t be fooled. Even Google recognizes that all roads lead to Kansas, not just yellow brick ones.”

Topeka is the capital city of Kansas State and it means to dig good potatoes. Big G chose the name as its April Fool's offering to return a favor. The city decided to change its name for the whole month from Topeka to Google, Kansas. It is obviously an ingenious ploy to persuade Google to choose the city for its Google Fiber project which awards ultra-fast broadband internet connection to city benificiaries.





Photo taken from the Google Blog
Which leads to the question:

If you are a city mayor, what tech or gadget-related name would you name your city?

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